Friday, 25 November 2016

She's a woman. Can she do it ?

In these next few weeks the BBC is focussing on women. This morning on breakfast TV the news presenters were interviewing one of those people they regularly bring on who are experts and tell us about things in terms of what we must do or what it's important for us to do and how terrible things will become if we don't do them.

Today's expert, was saying how in our culture women weren't thought to be as capable as men in most things except for producing babies. She, (the expert was a woman), said that whenever women are being considered for any enterprise, the tacit or expressed observation made, and question asked, was always, "She's a woman. Can she do it?" The presenters and no doubt others watching may have nodded in agreement but I have never in my whole life been able to buy into this idea .

They're not Amazons

Without any doubt women have held enormous sway over my life. All the women I've been closely related to have been impressive. My grandmothers, my mother, my wife, my sisters, my daughters and, my almost one year old granddaughter, are, or were, formidable. I'm not suggesting that they were Amazons or Madonnas but all have been - apart from, as yet, my granddaughter - successful in their careers and have been fortunate enough to have children whom they have brought up to be good people. In addition to these achievements and more potent in my view is that these women have held things together for their families particularly during times of crisis without recourse to those predominantly masculine traits, punishment and violence.